What do you do when you have nothing of substance to say but it’s the biggest technology event of the year?
Why you hold a press conference of course! And then you use words like “digital revolution” and “create fantastic works of art” over and over and over and over again.
That was the experience we had yesterday afternoon at the Casio press conference. Yes, the company that first brought digital photography to the world had nothing of substance to offer today but that didn’t keep them from holding a press conference and talking for a seemingly endless period of time. The company’s top executives took to the stage and told us about the digital revolution that they were about to embark upon. It promises to be revolutionary in a revolutionary way. That’s right, with this digital revolution you be able to create works of art that are revolutionary. Did we mention that this press conference was about the digital revolution that Casio is about to embark upon?…
The digital revolution that Casio is embarking upon has two main portions–there is a web service for online imaging and a new camera.
Let’s start with the camera. The tricks camera is an interesting device. It actually has the ability to open up and swivel both the frame around the camera and the image LCD in a variety of matters so that you can get the best angle for the pictures you want to take.
The camera also has the ability to be triggered by motion so that you can use it to monitor a rule or a house when you are away.
It offers high definition video and can be used as a web camera. Surprisingly, the company talked about how important the connectivity of the phone is only to reveal that the connectivity is through a USB cable not through Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. It’s interesting looking camera with one small problem. It isn’t in production yet. Yes, apparently the camera is at this point just a concept so what we were being shown has every possibility of being little more than vaporware. Time will tell.
The company also demonstrated their new imaging service called imaging square. New online service allows you to create works of art from your pictures without having to receive any training or use complex and expensive hardware. There are a number of different filters and the camera service allows you to work with HDR photography. We were shown a number of the images that have been adapted using the service and they look great. The only problem is this–
There was nothing that the CEO showed us that we can’t already do on our iPhones and iPads with applications that cost a few dollars or even, in many cases, free. That’s right, what we were shown today would have been revolutionary a few years ago but in a world of iPhones that can take high-quality images, allow you to manipulate those images with ease, and then share that your Wi-Fi or 3G radio there was nothing revolutionary about it.
To show just how revolutionary this revolutionary digital imaging process is we took a few photographs during the event and while they were describing what their new process is able to accomplish we added our own touch to the images. Not using their revolutionary online service but using our iPhones. Here’s a little taste of what we were able to accomplish with applications that only cost us a dollar or two.
So the bottom line is this. An old maxim says that if you are a public speaker you should think of yourself as if you were an oil worker. In other words, if you don’t strike oil within 15 min. stop boring. We saw nothing revolutionary at the Casio press conference today and they would have been better served by simply having a booth we could visit.